The present invention is directed to inspection of glassware articles such as glass containers, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for transporting non-round containers through a series of inspection stations.
In the manufacture of glassware, such as glass containers, various anomalies or variations can occur that affect commercial acceptability of the containers. These anomalies, termed xe2x80x9ccommercial variations,xe2x80x9d can involve dimensional characteristics of the container such as at the container finish, surface characteristics that can affect acceptable operation of the container such as surface variations at the container sealing surface, or variations such as stones or checks within the container finish, sidewall or bottom. It is also conventional practice to mold indicia on each container indicative of the mold of origin of the container for inspection and quality control purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,493 illustrates a starwheel-type conveyor or transporter for accepting containers in sequence from an in-feed conveyor and transporting the containers through a series of inspection stations. At at least some of the inspection stations, the container is held in position and rotated about its central axis while being electro-optically inspected for commercial variations and/or mold code. The term xe2x80x9cinspectionxe2x80x9d is used to its broadest sense to encompass any optical, electro-optical, mechanical or electrical observation of or engagement with the container to measure or determine a potentially variable characteristic, including but not necessarily limited to mold codes and commercial variations.
U.S. application Ser. No. 09/679,584 filed Oct. 4, 2000 and assigned to the assignee hereof, discloses an apparatus for indexing glassware through a series of angularly spaced stations. The apparatus includes first and second arrays of glassware gripping fingers mounted on associated carriers that are rotatable on a common axis, both conjointly and with respect to each other. Each carrier is connected to an associated servo motor, which in turn are connected to a controller for rotating the carriers with respect to each other to grip and release glassware between the fingers, and to rotate the carriers conjointly to index the glassware between apparatus stations. Drive rollers are located at at least some of the stations, and are pivotal into and out of position for rotating the containers about their axes for inspection and other purposes. The apparatus and method disclosed in such patent are particularly well suited for inspection of round containers, but are not as well suited for inspection of non-round containers such as flasks, which must be tightly gripped for transport between stations but loose gripped at the stations to permit rotation of the containers about their axes. It is a general object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for transport and inspection of non-round containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,112, assigned to the assignee hereof, discloses a transporter for indexing non-round containers through a circumferential array of inspection stations. The containers are loosely encircled by cam-operated mechanisms and slid along a plate between inspection stations. Thus, the apparatus disclosed in the noted patent is not suited for use in conjunction with a container transport and inspection system in which the containers must be tightly gripped and transported between stations, as distinguished from being loosely gripped and slid along a support plate.
Apparatus for inspecting non-round containers at a plurality of inspection stations in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention includes first and second circumferential arrays of glassware gripping fingers disposed in pairs having opposed partcircular arms. The first and second finger arrays are mounted on respective first and second carriers that are rotatable on a common axis. First and second motors are respectively coupled to the first and second carriers for rotating the carriers independently of each other on their common axis to close the part-circular arms about a container body tightly to grip the container body, to transport the container between inspection stations, partially to open the arms to permit rotation of the container at an inspection station while confining the body of the container, and fully to open the fingers with respect to each other to permit insertion and removal of a container between the fingers. A drive roller may engage the finish of the container at at least one of the inspection stations to rotate the container about the axis of its finish while the container body is confined by the fingers.
A method of transporting non-round containers, from a load station through at least one inspection station to an unload station in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, includes providing first and second circumferential arrays of glassware gripping fingers and positioning the fingers in opposed pairs having part-circular arms. At least one of the arrays is moved toward the other at the load station to close the part-circular arms tightly around a container body. The container is transported to the inspection station by rotating the arm arrays simultaneously on a common axis. At least one of the arrays is then moved away from the other at the inspection station partially to open the arms to permit rotation of the container while confining the container between the arms. At least one of the arrays is moved away from the other at the unload station fully to open the arms and permit removal of the container from between the fingers.